Of Storms and Gulf Stream Crossings

Aboard sailboat Sandpiper we waited in Marathon, Florida Keys for a “weather window”, i.e. for the winds to moderate and blow from the South for a three day period. The first day lets the waves from the previous conditions subside. The second day of 10 to 15 knots wind from the South gives you 2 to 3 feet seas for a day of sailing and the third day gives you a safety margin in case there are unexpected delays. In the Southern part of Florida and the Keys in April these weather windows occur about twice a month. Loy, Linda and crew member, Susan Tonon, spent the days of waiting in Marathon enjoying the mild Florida winter weather; touring Boot Key harbor in the dinghy; supplying; swimming, arranging tie-downs to secure equipment and supplies below deck, and inspecting (from a legal distance) the towers of Radio Marti, American government radio aimed at Cuba. Finally the weather forecasts called for a two day window starting Thursday 4/7/05 with the winds moderating, moving from Northeast to Southeast and the seas subsiding to 2 to 3 feet. We seized the moment and departed from Boot Key harbor at 6 pm for an anchorage called Riding Rock in the Bahamas 112 mile North and East. Our plan was to sail all night on an Easterly course letting the Gulf Stream carry us North and enter the shallow Bahamian waters in daylight. As we entered the Gulf Stream our speed over the ground increased to 8 knots.

At 10 pm there was a change in the weather reports and forecast. Now it was calling for widely scattered thunderstorms along the route, increased wind and hazardous weather warnings. By midnight we had increasing winds shifting from the east south east to north east (just the opposite of what we needed). In the hours after midnight the wind increased to 26 knots and the seas to 9-13 feet. The thunderstorms were getting larger and we were no longer able to go around the storms when we spotted them ahead on radar. The reports began to come in of dangerous winds and the possibility of water spouts in the vicinity of Alligator Reef in the Florida Keys west of our position. We were taking quite a jostling and our speed slowed to 4.5 knots as we crashed though the waves. The good news is that the restraint systems Susan had designed for the boat interior worked well and things were stable below deck. On deck the two 6 gallon cans of spare diesel fuel worked their tethers loose and began to slide around. A piece of hardware parted which held the main sheet block to the deck. The block swung around and cleared one of the wind scoops from the aft deck. We stabilized the block and boom by making a triangular tie to the jib winches in the cockpit. A stopper block on the stay sheet traveler broke loose and we had to furl the stay sail which had been reefed and stabilizing our rolling. The thunderstorms were now continuous and the lightning made us feel quite vulnerable. Each in our way were saying our prayers and trying to think clearly about our options. At 9 am the GPS information was that we could not arrive at anchoring ground in the Bahamas until near dark on Friday. We were tired after dealing with the storms most of the night. We chose the option of turning West to Angelfish Cut to get behind the protection of the Florida reef in the Hawk Channel. In the Hawk Channel the weather cleared, the seas subsided, the water turned a blue we have only seen in the Caribbean and we had a wonderful afternoon trip through the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to Biscayne Bay and tied up at Dinner Key marina in Miami.

We were grateful to be safely in port with our prayers answered and slept hard and long on Friday night. On Saturday found that this area is Coconut Grove and the base from which Pan American Airlines flew the Clippers to South America. We spent the weekend repairing equipment, visiting historic sites, attending the play Debbie and Ann with Elizabeth Ashley and Lucy Arnez at the Coconut Grove Theater and touring the Pinecrest sub-tropical gardens. This became an unexpected opportunity to have dinner and visit again with our good friends Vern and Ruth Vanderzee at their home in Miami.

Tuesday 4/12 Susan returned to work in Chicago and we are studying the charts and weather to determine if a crossing to the Bahamas is still feasible this year or if we cruise the East coast this summer and return to the Bahamas after hurricane season next winter. We have built a new cockpit chart station designed by our ship’s engineer, Susan, and are looking forward to the next stage in this adventure. We’ll let you know what it turns out to be.